REDS 5, CUBS 3
Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer deep into the seats in right field, and rookie Johnny Cueto got back to hitting the corners with his 95 mph fastball Monday night, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a slump-busting 5-3 victory over the Cubs.
The Reds ended a five-game losing streak by taking advantage of a pair of errors that set up five unearned runs off Ryan Dempster (4-1), who lost for the first time since switching from closer to starter. Cueto struck out five in the first two innings around a solo homer by Geovany Soto.
The Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the ninth off Francisco Cordero, but Mike Fontenot was out at the plate when he tried to score from third on a pitch that bounced away from catcher Paul Bako. Cordero walked Ryan Theriot to load the bases again, then retired Derrek Lee on a grounder, leaving him perfect in five save chances.
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BLUE JAYS 1, WHITE SOX 0
Dustin McGowan outpitched Javier Vazquez in an entertaining duel, and Matt Stairs homered to help the Toronto Blue Jays beat the slumping White Sox 1-0 Monday night for a four-game sweep.
Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan walked the bases loaded in the ninth inning but got Pablo Ozuna to ground into a 1-2-3 double play to end the game, earning his fifth save.
Chicago lost its season-high sixth straight game and has dropped nine of 12 overall. The White Sox have scored nine runs in their past six games and have the American League’s lowest batting average at .229. Manager Ozzie Guillen made changes to his struggling lineup, putting Orlando Cabrera in the leadoff spot, bumping Carlos Quentin to second and dropping Nick Swisher to sixth.
It didn’t help, as Chicago continued to struggle with men on base. The White Sox are 7-for-61 (.115) with runners in scoring position over the past nine games.
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CUBS HITS
Ex-Cub Jacque Jones was cut Monday by the Detroit Tigers.
NEXT SERIES
vs. Minnesota
Tuesday: 7:11 p.m., WCIU-Ch. 26. RH Nick Blackburn (2-1, 3.52) vs. RH Gavin Floyd (2-1, 3.16)
Wednesday: 7:11 p.m., CSN. RH Livan Hernandez (4-1, 4.43) vs. LH Mark Buehrle (1-3, 4.42)
Thursday: 1:05 p.m., CSN. RH Kevin Slowey (0-1, 8.10) vs. LH John Danks (2-3, 3.12)
